The present invention relates to a therapeutic shower enclosure wherein hot dry air is generated at temperatures in the range up to from about 50xc2x0 C. to 75xc2x0 C. and circulated in the enclosure to cause a person to transpire to provide a therapeutic effect to that person""s skin causing it to sweat and shed toxins.
As long as man has been on this earth, he has made us of the elements of nature to treat, cure and appease different ailments.
Throughout history, a multitude of people, including those of Scandinavian countries, North Africa, Turkey and India have relied on various forms of sweating techniques, to promote good health. From as far back as Ancient Rome and Greece, these civilizations used the sweating process as a means to maintaining, and, in many cases, bringing back health and vigor. A great variety of health problems such as chronic pain, respiratory disorders and skin irritations were treated by this process which they considered as essential to life as food, water and air.
The Aztecs and other people of Mexico and Central America also made use of healthful sweating sessions as part of regular therapeutic and medical practices. Still in use today in Mexico is the Temazcal (a native Nahuatl word), temas, for bath, and calli, for house, where in a primitive-looking stone or mud hut steam bach are practiced.
The same beneficial principles still hold true today. The practice of including sweat has so many therapeutic benefits. It can alleviate a large number of symptoms and largely improve one""s health. This induced heat reproduces the effects of a high fever (nature""s way of ridding the body of infection) by stimulating and increasing the body""s normally occurring internal exchanges. It produces effects similar to those caused by strenuous exercise and raises the metabolism, bringing increased circulation to all muscles, organs and tissues. By calling the body""s normal defense mechanisms into action, it greatly stimulates the natural healing process. This overheating of the body helps to eliminate toxins at a much faster rate. Thus, with blood circulation increased and sweating increased, the elimination of toxins is maximized. Considered to be the body""s third lung, the skin absorbs nutrients but also excretes what it does not need. Excessive sweating, in a controlled and safe environment, will accelerate this process bringing improved health and well-being.
With aging comes a slowing down of the body""s normal healing capacities and this is how deterioration sets in. The body does not excrete internal waste, toxins and hyperacidity, also a cause of weakened and deteriorated organs, muscles and tissues, as it should. Bodily functions are slowed and a degradation of all tissues ensues. The oxidation process begins and allows for the development of illness and diminished physical and mental capacities. We have all heard of antioxidant foods and dietary supplements intended to slow down this process but there are also techniques and practices that prevent the oxidation of the body.
The use of preventive measures is key to continued good health. Physical activities such as regular exercise (where sweating occurs) can help to slow down the aging process. Saunas provide a humid heat that offers limited possibilities. The body is not capable of enduring this combination of high temperature and raised humidity levels for very long as the skin pores react to this extreme humidity by closing up, hindering the elimination process. Whereas an environment that would provide a dry heat would rather cause the skin pores to open and release water to fool the skin and eliminate waste freely allowing the user to easily sustain heat exceeding the body""s normal temperature by over 50xc2x0 Fahrenheit, long enough to produce noticeable results. In these conditions, viruses, bacteria and microbes are virtually annihilated or considerably weakened. Furthermore, it has been scientifically proven that 30 to 40 minutes of intense sweating allows for the elimination of acidity and toxins equivalent to 24 hours of normal kidney function.
Primary sweating is the time spent in the sweating environment, in a sitting position, that opens the pores of the skin for the excretion of toxins and is considered the hygienic portion of the session. This session should take place in a calm and peaceful atmosphere. Secondary sweating is the resting period (post-sweating environment) where the user lies in a strategic position covered by different layers of clothing, sheets and blankets to undergo secondary sweating and is considered the therapeutic portion of the session. This enables the body to sweat abundantly at first, then, sweating diminishes gradually slowly easing the body back to its normal temperature. In this second phase, a much greater volume of toxins and waste is eliminated than the sweating that is generated by a bath or sauna.
It is known to use a shower enclosure to convert it for therapeutic use. However, that therapeutic use has been restricted to the generation of steam in the enclosure to provide a steam bath. Example of such prior art can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,142,713, 5,293,653. In this latter reference the device for producing steam is incorporated in the roof of an existing shower stall whereby to convert it to sauna. The conversion of the roof consists of a compact box shaped roof having a fan for forced air circulation within the shower enclosure and a vaporizer, supplied directly by a water source through a valve, produces the steam. The vaporizer is operated intermittently by a timer which is interlocked by two thermostats. The steam is circulated by a forced air circulation system.
Steam baths have been known as providing limited therapeutic effect for the reason that the steam deposits water particles on the skin of the user person and provides an insulation to the skin from the temperature in the enclosure. The tolerance of a person being subjected to a steam bath is usually limited to about 120xc2x0 F. This temperature is not sufficiently high to cause the body to create a defensive mechanism by transpiring and thereby provide a therapeutic effect by eliminating toxins quickly.
To do so the internal temperature of the body needs to be increased towards 101xc2x0 F. to 102xc2x0 F. At those temperatures virus and bacteria will die and other beneficial effects are obtained when the internal body temperature is raised to those levels. As pointed out above, it is not possible to achieve this with steam saunas due to the fact that the skin is insulated by the humid environment depositing water on the user""s skin.
Sauna devices for small enclosures are also known such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,987,662 and wherein the heating device is in the form of a radiation panel which is secured adjacent the ceiling of the enclosure. The radiation panel comprises a resistive heating element which radiates heat within the enclosure. A blower also circulates the air within the enclosure. If the enclosure was a shower stall type enclosure then a person standing or seated in the enclosure would receive this radiation heat directly on his head and this would cause the user person adverse effects making it very difficult to resist the heat radiation as it would not be too concentrated and gradually heat the entire body. Accordingly, this type of device would be unsuitable for use in a therapeutic shower enclosure adapted for use by a single user person. Accordingly, a heater device as disclosed in this patent is not recommended.
The advantages of the therapeutic shower enclosure of the present invention are many, and namely to cleanse the skin through dry heat sweating process, to purify nasal passages by clearing mucous membranes, to reduce stress levels and pain by stimulating the production of endorphins (the xe2x80x9cfeel goodxe2x80x9d hormones, to increase body heat reproducing the effects of a high fever, warding off viruses and other micro-organisms, and to stimulate the elimination of accumulated toxins or harmful metal such as lead and mercury, chemical products or fungus present in the body.
Regular sweating sessions offer a myriad of health advantages. In addition to relieving aches and pains related to rheumatism, arthritis and other chronic diseases, they can relieve cold and flu symptoms and congestion, alleviate the discomfort and pain of various skin diseases, as well as bring a strengthened immune system to better health in general.
It is a feature of the present invention to provide a therapeutic shower enclosure wherein hot dry air is circulated therein to temperatures in the range of up to 50xc2x0 C. to 75xc2x0 C., whereby to cause a user person""s body to transpire and provide a therapeutic effect of shedding toxins through the skin. Dry heat as opposed to a sauna which is humid will allow for a much higher shower enclosure temperature about 150xc2x0 F. compared to 110xc2x0-120xc2x0 F. for saunas.
Because it is dry heat, no humidity will cover the skin. Therefore, because it protects itself, the skin will sweat a lot more through perspiration. This will help the metabolism cool down and cleanse the pores eliminating more toxins, oils, sebum . . . .
Because a higher temperature can be tolerated, the transfer of heat from the air to the derm and from the derm to the epidermis will increase the body temperature by 2 to 4xc2x0 which will create an artificial fever. This fever is the body""s way of weakening and killing viruses, bacteria.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide a therapeutic shower enclosure wherein the user""s internal body temperature can approach 101xc2x0 F. to 102xc2x0 F. wherein to stimulate the immune system of the user to cause it to sweat thereby killing microbes in the user""s system which do not resist at those temperatures and wherein the person""s system will undergo a disintoxication due to heavy transpiration.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide a therapeutic shower enclosure having a hot air temperature distribution system for circulating hot dry air at temperatures in the range of up to 50xc2x0 C. to 75xc2x0 C. in the enclosure and which is used in combination with a chromotherapeutic system comprised of colored lights.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide the therapeutic shower enclosure as above described and also incorporating in combination therewith a luminotherapeutic system which consists of intense clear light being generated in the enclosure.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide a therapeutic shower enclosure as above described and wherein the hot dry air stream is injected with ions which provides negative charges in the air stream to subject the user to an energizing environment.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide a therapeutic shower enclosure as above described and wherein ozone is injected in the hot dry air stream to provide purification and disinfection of the air to destroy bacteria and other impurities.
The therapeutic shower enclosure of the present invention is essentially a modified shower stall wherein in the top wall thereof there is adapted a hot air heating and circulation system capable of heating the air to temperatures in the range of up to about 50xc2x0 C. to 75xc2x0 C. In combination with this source of hot dry air, which provides a therapeutic effect to a user person, there is incorporated other devices which can provide to the user chromotherapy, luminotherapy and other therapies by the injection of ions and ozone into the hot dry air stream.
It is known that heat stimulates the immune system of people and is utilized to kill many types of microbes that cannot resist internal body temperatures in the range of 101xc2x0 F. 102xc2x0 F. In effect, as a person sweats the hot air penetrates the epidermis and the derm and will cause the body temperature to increase and thus make it sweat to eliminate toxins. When subjecting one""s body to hot dry heat many advantages are obtained as mentioned above. For example, it causes an augmentation of the tissue stretchability, provides a reduction or treatment to muscle spasms and cramps and thereby diminishes muscle pains due to the dilation of the blood vessels. Heat also causes the body to sweat and the blood stream to purify itself by eliminating toxins and reducing the acidity and thereby providing improvements to arthritic and rheumatism problems due to the relaxation of the muscles about the articulations. It is also been proven that elevating the internal body temperature above normal causing hyperthermia, provides an improvement to people having depressions. This result is probably due to the augmentation of endorphins, these are the substances that are produced by the organism when subjected to a physical effort.
Chromotherapy which is light therapy is also well known. Light therapy provides physiological and therapeutic benefits thereby increasing the quality of life. Light and colored light have been long used to treat different illnesses. The biochemistry of the human body depends on light. Color also is derived from light and is the source of life and each color has certain psychological properties which are therapeutic. For example, the red color has been known as a source of strength, health and vitality. Because the color red is a stimulant it activates blood circulation and stimulates the liver. The red color is very energizing and is a treatment against anemia as it forms in one""s body hemoglobin. Because red light rays provide heat they provide an excellent treatment for congestion, mucous and other illnesses which are aggravated by cold weather.
Luminotherapy consist in emitting intense clear light which repeat the light spectrum and the intensity of the sun to provide therapeutic effects. Light sources using neon or halogen lights having an intensity of at least 8,200 lux per square meters provide such therapeutic effects. In the therapeutic shower enclosure of the present invention we utilize halogen light sources capable of generating 10,000 lux at 24 inches which simulates the light intensity that we obtain on a spring morning at about 8 o""clock. When the body is exposed to intense light a series of chemical reactions and physiological reactions are created. The therapeutic effects obtained from such light sources are numerous and particularly when utilized in combination with a morning shower. The light helps in reducing the production of melatonin (the hormone when one sleeps) and accordingly helps in recovering from the effects of a night sleep.
Ion therapy is also known as providing an energizing effect to the human body. An ion is formed of molecules which are themselves comprised of certain numbers of atoms which have a positive core and negative electrons. To our hot dry air circulation system we add ions to produce a therapeutic effect to the person undergoing treatment in the shower enclosure. The negative charge of the air particles provides an energizing effect while the negative ions also provide benefits against diseases and particularly permits an improvement of physical and intellectual performance.
Ozone therapy provides excellent properties for purification and disinfection and by injecting ozone in the hot dry air stream of our therapeutic shower enclosure the air and water particles therein are treated by destroying bacteria and impurities therein. All of the above therapies are provided in our therapeutic shower enclosure in combination with the hot dry air stream either simultaneously or individually or in groups and for predetermined periods of time.
According to the above features, from a broad aspect, the present invention provides a therapeutic shower enclosure comprising a bottom wall, sidewalls, a top wall and a door assembly in the sidewalls for access to the enclosure. An air distribution channel is in communication with an air blower and one or more air return orifices and at least one air injecting orifice communicating with the enclosure whereby to create a stream of circulating air in said enclosure. Heating means is provided in the air distribution channel for heating air convected therein to temperatures in the range of up to about 50xc2x0 C. to 75xc2x0 C. to provide the stream as a stream of hot dry air circulating in the enclosure about a person""s body therein whereby to cause the person""s body to increase its internal temperature to cause perspiration to thereby provide a therapeutic effect of shedding toxins through the skin.
The air in the enclosure is heated to a temperature which is preferably within the range of from about 31xc2x0 C. to 40xc2x0 C. for a predetermined time span.
The shower enclosure of the present invention is provided with a molded top shell which incorporates therein two air distribution channels which communicate with an air return orifice in the top wall and wherein the hot dry air is released in the shower stall in a downward stream adjacent opposed sidewalls of the enclosure and returns upwardly adjacent a rear intersection region 6f the opposed sidewalls so that an air stream flows from the top wall to the bottom wall and then back up to the top wall to subject a user person to a hot dry air therapeutic stream.
The therapeutic shower enclosure of the present invention also incorporates light sources as well as an ozone and ion generator all of which are mounted above the top wall and to provide therapeutic benefits to a user standing in the shower enclosure. An atomizer may also be used to inject a mist in the hot dry air stream to enhance sweating. The enclosure is also provided with one or more standard shower heads.
According to a still further broad aspect of the present invention there is provided a therapeutic shower enclosure which comprises a bottom wall, side walls, a top wall and a door assembly in the side walls for access to the enclosure. One or more chromotherapeutic light sources secured to the enclosure to subject a user person to coloured light. Control means is provided to energize the light source for a desired predetermined period of time to subject a user person to a chromotherapeutic effect.
According to a further broad aspect of the present invention there is provided a therapeutic shower enclosure comprising a bottom wall, sidewalls, a top wall and a door assembly in said sidewalls for access to said enclosure, one or more intense clear light source in one of said top wall or sidewalls having an intensity of at least 2000 lux, control means to energize said light source for a desired predetermined period of time to subject a user person to a luminotherapeutic effect, said enclosure having a shower head and water control valves.